So many of us are sitting back and complaining about how people are behaving around us and how the world is increasingly violent and contradictory to what God has ordained. We’re shocked when we watch the news and read the papers and we wave our finger at the world as if to say, “I can’t believe you are behaving that way.”
Well, here’s more tough language: the church has not been doing its duty to reach our nation and our world with the Gospel and people are acting that way because they don’t know Jesus. Seriously, can you imagine what our nation and our world would look like if the people of Bible-believing churches everywhere were (1) living holy, humble lives of submission to Christ and (2) routinely declaring the Gospel with hearts of compassion toward others?
The fact is this: when we preach the Gospel with the right heart condition, people’s lives will change and the culture will follow. We have seen this to be true in the great revivals of times past and we know that the same God who moved among men before is still on His throne.
II Timothy 4:2 contains our marching orders in how we, as followers of Christ, should be living. It reads: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (NKJV).
Being ready, as we see here, means that we must continue on in our calling despite opposition. We must look ourselves in the mirror every morning and say, “Are you ready?” That’s what God wants from us and remember He has promised never to abandon us as we live for Him. We must not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.
My dad used to say, “We can’t just curse the darkness; we need to light some candles.” That goes well with this Scripture because it is calling us to rebuke and call out sin but to also be encouragers, people of patience who instill confidence in others. Yes, in other words, the Christian life can be complicated because we have many roles to play for Him. But God empowers us to live right and to carry on within the darkness we all must face. We essentially live beyond ourselves and our weaknesses, and we live in amazing ways for Him, through His unquenchable power.
Friends, a few days from now the election will be over and our nation will still need Jesus. We can’t afford to get caught up in petty arguments and infightings over elections and other matters because God has given us a responsibility to live for Him no matter who is sitting in the Oval Office. Sure we vote from hearts of prayer and wisdom, but our priority must be what II Timothy confirms for us so beautifully: preaching God’s message and calling people to Him.
It’s time we get serious about doing the right things, for the glory of Christ. God has given us a purpose and it is not to win some votes — it’s to win some souls.
Preach the Word.
Your friend in Christ,
Jonathan Falwell